NEWS
Ten years on from the smoking ban and
vaping is big business
July 1 2017 marked an important
anniversary for smokers and non-
smokers alike in England - it was ten
years since the smoking ban was
introduced.
In the decade that has followed since
smoking was outlawed in almost all
public spaces (most notably pubs,
restaurants and workplaces) vaping
has grown to take its place for many.
UK sales of vaping products reached
£1bn this year and the trend is set to
continue with projections for this market
to double to £2bn-a-year by 2020.
Vape shops and vape lounges are now
common place in the UK and many
regard vaping as far more socially
acceptable than smoking and around
3 million of us now use electronic
cigarettes.
In the months leading up to the ban - a
ban which had already been imposed in
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
over the previous 18 months - there
was outcry from smokers and from civil
liberties campaigners.
Many predicted it would kill the pub
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industry and said governments had
no business telling their citizens just
where they could and could not smoke.
It is true the number of pubs has
dramatically declined in the past
decade and the smoking ban may
have played a part in this but huge
increases on duty charged on beer, stiff
completion from supermarkets and the
global recession all played their
parts too.
But who would go back to living in
a society polluted by other people’s
potentially deadly second hand smoke
now?
Neil Williams, spokesman for The
British Beer and Pub Association said
many pubs have adapted and are
thriving since the ban while others
have not.
He told the BBC: “Pubs have had to
adapt. We’ve seen those that can
invest in food and they’ve made a very
good job of it.
“But some pubs - the traditional street-
corner boozer - simply haven’t had the
space to do that. They are the ones
that have suffered.”
The ban has also been directly linked
with the improving health of the
nation. In 2011 the Department of
Health reported that there was a fall in
respiratory illnesses reported by bar
workers immediately after the ban.
In addition hospital admissions for
heart attacks fell by 2.4% immediately
following the smoking ban - the
equivalent of around 1,200 heart
attacks a year.
Cancer Research UK chief executive
Sir Harpal Kumar described the
smoking ban as “one of the most
important public health measures of
recent history” and predicted that the
ongoing health impact of the ban will
continue to be huge.
Finally a recent YouGov poll found
that 20% of current smokers said the
smoking ban had helped them cut
down while 14% of those questioned
said it was a factor in persuading them
to quit.